In 2022, the City of Wanamingo approved a project that had been in the works since 2018. The project had three steps to complete it in a safe and viable way. Step #1 was to build a new water tower and remove the existing one that we all knew and loved. We all saw the water tower come down with mixed emotions, but everything has a time and a season, and the water tower had served us well for a long long time, and it was at the end of it's season. Although it was a Wanamingo icon, it was time for a more functional and cost effective water system to be put in place.
The second phase of development was to add new water lines, called looping. The water main looping areas that were necessary were the land around the sewer plant, Prairie Ridge development, and the Cenex Industrial Park businesses. The improvements increased the water pressure by 15 psi, and got rid of areas where the water would pool and hold sediment. The sediment gets flushed twice a year, but it was becoming clear (pun intended) that more had to be done in order to keep the system running efficiently.
The third phase of development was the new well house, which was only recently dropped into place by a huge crane. The old well house was a one room block building, and no longer up to code. New building codes call for separate rooms for storing the 3 chemicals used in the system, namely chlorine, flouride and a polymer that causes rust and metal in the water supply to sink to the bottom where it gets flushed.
The city decided the best way to bring everything up to code while continuing to save the tax payer's money was to re-utilize the emergency well house by replacing old casings and components with new ones to keep the costs down. The old well house was manually driven. The wellhouse at the ballfield was already automatic with the Mingo View tower. Michael Boulton, our City Administrator said, "The new system was necessary to increase water pressure where it was too low, and add redundancy to the systems, and add water capacity. Also, the maintenance of the old system was all manpower, and is now fully automated, saving our city money."
The new well house is located where the old well house was on the site where the old water tower was. The footings were put in place, and a slab poured. Next, the new one was placed on the slab. The new well house is a prefabricated building three times bigger than the old one, with the electrical components, piping and automated controls already in place. This is huge, because it has sensors to read the individual meters, and it is all done with the push of a button, once a month, saving manpower and gasoline for the vehicles. By the way, a lot of thought and work went into acquiring the best costs for all three phases, and took 3 separate companies to get it all done. One for the tear down of the old water tower, one for the water line upgrades and one for the well house. Thanks to our city officials for their work in obtaining the best costs all around!
So, the original plans were drawn up in 2018. Once COVID hit, there was a huge delay in procuring the necessary electrical components to complete the project, as well as many other supply and demand issues, so the project was on hold for a time. Another issue was that the water tower had to be removed, and the new one installed. This increased the town's water capacity from 165,000 gallons of water to 250,000 gallons. With the updates and increased holding capacity, Wanamingo is now ready for the anticipated growth and should last for many years to come.
Another bonus to the upgrade is that with the new well house comes a natural gas back up generator that is fully automated in case of a power failure. This means when the power goes out, you will still have water. More than just a convenience, this means if the power does go out, and a fire started, we still have the means to put it out!
Our Mayor, Ryan Holmes concluded, "It is exciting to see this project come to completion. In a few more weeks, everything will be in place. Both well pumps can now be utilized, and are approved by the Minnesota Department of Health. It increases the efficiency of the town's water system so we now can feel confident about the capacity for future growth and development. We were reaching our max capacity, so it was time. We now know our fire department's needs to suppress fires is enough to protect our citizens, and to continue to provide enough water pressure for both residential and commercial needs."
So, there you have it! Yet another upgrade to our town to save us money and keep us safe!
